Glass sheets are often used as portions of photovoltaic devices. In thin-film-based photovoltaic devices, for example, a sheet of glass is provided and then a number of layers are applied. The layers may be deposited, etched, scribed, etc., in various steps. Typically, glass sheets used in, e.g., CdTe-based photovoltaic devices may be in the range of about 0.5-5 millimeters thick, and the coating layers are on the order of just a few microns. To save on material costs and to improve transmissibility, glass sheets used in such photovoltaic devices have become thinner and thinner. Accordingly, the glass sheets are fragile and must be handled with care to avoid breakage during the various fabrication steps.
As part of the fabrication process, strips or ribbons of material may be applied to such glass sheets for various reasons. For example, edge protective strips, conductor strips, and/or insulating strips may be applied to the glass sheets in various arrangements. Typically, such strips are applied from a roll of material via a dispensing head in a machine assembly that controls relative movement of the head and glass to place the strips, as desired. However, as the glass sheets have become thinner, processing the sheets through the dispensing head machinery creates the possibility of higher incidents of breakage. This is particularly true in connection with application of such strips, where often dispensing heads push down onto a glass sheet surface, and the glass sheets can be subjected to various opposing forces, bending forces, etc., as part of such a step.
Accordingly, a device for handling glass sheets that avoids one or more issues with conventional sheet handling devices or that provides other benefits would be welcome.